Survey on modding, looking for modders Skyrim : V

» Sat Dec 24, 2016 10:00 pm

Hi Skyrim modders,

I am a master student with the University of Groningen currently writing my thesis on PC modding. My goal is to investigate the effects of modding tools in mod making. In order to collect the necessary data, I have designed a survey that is being distributed among a variety of modders who were active for games that were released with a set of official modding tools. Skyrim thus qualifies I believe.

Who am I looking for?

I'm looking for anyone who has used the official mod tools to create a mod. The actual game and content of the mod is not important.

Filling out the survey will take approximately 5 to 10 minutes of your time, depending on your answers. As a token of my gratitude I will randomly award a number of steam credit gift certificates among the respondents.

If you have any questions regarding the survey, please feel free message me.

I would really appreciate your help!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfj5LEcbtxmSXqt66JzG_DZDzbb7zPDwUArIVwQgf0Cz02DyA/viewform

(survey was created with google forms).

PS The exact same survey was also placed on the Oblivion and Morrowind forums. I apologize if this comes across as a bit 'spammy', but I figured this would be the best way to generate response from the entire Elder Scrolls modding community. You will be able to indicate whether you modded for more than one game (TES or otherwise).

» Sat Dec 24, 2016 12:20 pm

Here is a working link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfj5LEcbtxmSXqt66JzG_DZDzbb7zPDwUArIVwQgf0Cz02DyA/viewform

» Sat Dec 24, 2016 11:37 pm

I'm sorry, but I think this is a very poorly-worded survey.

How many hours have you spent on modding per week?

I am not sure what you are asking here. Are you asking how many hours do we usually spend modding, on average? Or are you asking what is the most hours we have spent modding in one week? This needs to be rewritten.

How many completed mods have you developed?

How many unfinished mods have you developed?

Allow us to write in answers as well as provide numbers. I do not know the exact numbers to either of these questions. Therefore I cannot answer either of these questions. Both these questions (and their answer fields) needs to be redone.

Please select the game you worked on

This question needs to be rewritten. I have modded numerous games by Bethesda, as well as games made by other developers.

The average size of the mod team(s) I was part of was...

First ask whether we have been on a mod team. Then ask this question.

» Sun Dec 25, 2016 1:42 am

Cheers!

Thank you for your feedback, I'll try and address the issues you highlighted.

How many hours have you spent on modding per week?

How many completed mods have you developed?

How many unfinished mods have you developed?

These questions were based on existing literature with regard to modding practices for video games and were discussed with multiple modders beforehand. What we tried to do was pick a suitable time scale. It was decided that modding hours on a weekly basis would be a relatively easy to answer metric for modders. But yes, (an approximation) of the average hours per week is perfectly acceptable.

Numerical scales were chosen for statistical purposes (it's easier to aggregate data in that form). This unfortunately limits you (the respondent) in answering the question, but generally it's a good trade off. Respondents can leave remarks regarding specific questions in the survey via the 'general comments' option on the last page (or here on the forum). Again, I realize it's less than ideal.

Please select the game you worked on

At the bottom of the page there should be an option for you to indicate if you worked on other games as well. Clicking this option will give you an indentical set of questions but now for a new game of your choosing. You will be able to do this 5 times (so five games in total).

The average size of the mod team(s) I was part of was...

You should have the option to list 1 as your mod teamsize. That said, perhaps some clarification could be added to make this more obvious.

I hope this adds some clarification. Of course I'm happy to answer or adress any other questions and remarks you might have. In any case I appreciate your suggestions!